What the world's top 10 tech billionaires studied

[Jamie McKane]

What the world's top 10 tech billionaires studied

While all of the world's top 10 richest tech billionaires attended university or college at some point, many of them never completed a degree.

Although a tertiary qualification is often regarded as a tool to greatly increase a candidate's ability to find a job - particularly one with a good starting salary - this is not always the rule for those ambitious enough to build their own companies in the technology industry.

 

[cguy]

Many may think this field generally requires a higher level of education than most, but there are plenty of anecdotal tales of brilliant tech-inclined minds who quit their jobs or dropped out while studying to eventually become incredibly successful entrepreneurs.

There are plenty of people who have won the lottery too. Stats matter. 7 out of 10 having degrees, while out of the remaining 3, two of them did 2 years at Harvard, where one was regarded as a prodigy, and the other published an academic paper improving the best known algorithm for a particular computer science problem. This very much suggests that a high level of education is exactly what one should strive for.

However, it is evident that several of the world’s leading tech businesspeople also benefitted from their tertiary education.

Yes, 10 out of 10 did. Even Ellison's first exposure to this rare new thing called computers was in '66, while studying at the University of Chicago.

Higher education is exceptionally important. Not everyone needs to do a degree to achieve it, but the vast majority do.

This type of article, celebrating the paper publishing, academic prodigy, graduate course finishing, Harvard-connected, "drop-outs", really sends the wrong message.

 

[Swa]

I disagree. None of these people are really qualified for their field. Their academics are nothing but paper achievements. We should stop sending this message of the status quo that an education which someone doesn't know how to use is worth anything. So articles like these are exactly what's needed. Great work for once. We need more investigative journalism and not merely pushing what's already out there.

 

[cguy]

I disagree. None of these people are really qualified for their field. Their academics are nothing but paper achievements. We should stop sending this message of the status quo that an education which someone doesn't know how to use is worth anything. So articles like these are exactly what's needed. Great work for once. We need more investigative journalism and not merely pushing what's already out there.

How are the top 10 billionaires not qualified in their fields? How do they even manage to not use their education?

 

[leonb]

Yes, you need to study and get a university degree.

 

[etienne_marais]

Elon Musk – Tesla and SpaceX​

• Net worth: $132.1 billion
• Qualifications: BSc. Economics and BA in Physics

Since when is Economics B.Sc and Physics BA ??

 

[cguy]

Since when is Economics B.Sc and Physics BA ??

It happens funnily enough. So probably not a misprint.

 

[rietrot]

Yes, you need to study and get a university degree.

Context is key here. There's many situations in which you don't need a university degree.

And even if everyone has a university degree the top 1% would always be just 1%.
High school should be enough of a basic education for most people.

Everyone doing degrees just dilutes the exclusivity of it.

But yes if you just want to earn a lot of money doing a degree is probably a must.
Even with wealthy people who don't have a official degree, continuous learning seem to be a thing.

 

[DailyTech]

good

 

[system32]

Some corrections:
3. Bill Gates – Microsoft
Net worth: $119.3 billion
Qualifications: Studied pre-law and mathematics, dropped out.
In 2007, receive his degree from Harvard (an honorary doctorate).

2. Elon Musk – Tesla and SpaceX
Net worth: $132.1 billion
Qualifications: BSc. Economics and BA in Physics
Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) - same as Newton, Darwin, Faraday, Rutherford, Ramanujan, Einstein, etc
IEEE Honorary Membership - member of the eminent professional engineering body

 

[CamiKaze]

But yes if you just want to earn a lot of money doing a degree is probably a must.

It's not a must. There are some very successful people that only have a matric certificate.

 

[backstreetboy]

Yes, you need to study and get a university degree.

Lol no you don't...

 

[backstreetboy]

It's not a must. There are some very successful people that only have a matric certificate.

There's many that didn't even have that like Ray Kroc and Richard Branson etc.

 

[konfab]

Jack Ma had the most important qualification you need:

Jack Ma, the head of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and China’s best-known capitalist, is a Communist Party member, the official Party newspaper said on Monday, debunking a public assumption the billionaire was politically unattached.

The People’s Daily revealed Ma’s Party membership in a list of 100 people it said had helped drive the country “reform and opening up” process. Ma is China’s richest man with a fortune of $35.8 billion, according to Forbes.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/27/ali...communist-party-member-china-state-media.html


Easy to get rich when the tendrils of political power are so close.

 

[rietrot]

It's not a must. There are some very successful people that only have a matric certificate.

Sure but those are the exceptions.

1. Working for a boss in a high paying job probably needs some qualifications.

2 Doing you own thing successfully requires expert knowledge.
Even just running a business requires knowledge that is not teached in school, but should probably be.

I'm all for self education. I believe all the knowledge is out there and mostly free.

 

[CamiKaze]

Sure but those are the exceptions.

1. Working for a boss in a high paying job probably needs some qualifications.

I'm not disagreeing, but I know of some that are in a high paying jobs and they only got to where they are because they can talk the talk.

 

[Swa]

How are the top 10 billionaires not qualified in their fields? How do they even manage to not use their education?

Not saying they don't, but that's not the definition of being qualified. Just because I can do algebra doesn't mean I'm a bookkeeper. Ok, 2 of them probably have degrees that are even really relevant to their field, but then being qualified is as much about what you don't have as what you do.

Sure but those are the exceptions.

1. Working for a boss in a high paying job probably needs some qualifications.

2 Doing you own thing successfully requires expert knowledge.
Even just running a business requires knowledge that is not teached in school, but should probably be.

I'm all for self education. I believe all the knowledge is out there and mostly free.

Few points.
1. While that's probably true in general it's also the case that the higher up you go the less a degree is a requirement or there's a mismatch of qualifications.
2. True, knowledge which is usually not taught in school or university.

It's the case that recruiters generally insist on degrees while being unqualified themselves. The university model is an outdated one.

 

[leonb]

It's the case that recruiters generally insist on degrees while being unqualified themselves. The university model is an outdated one.

It is not the recruiter that is insisting on a degree, it is the employer/client they do the recruitment for.. So they "being unqualified themselves" has nothing to do with the argument....

 

[Azg]

Not saying they don't, but that's not the definition of being qualified. Just because I can do algebra doesn't mean I'm a bookkeeper. Ok, 2 of them probably have degrees that are even really relevant to their field, but then being qualified is as much about what you don't have as what you do.


Few points.
1. While that's probably true in general it's also the case that the higher up you go the less a degree is a requirement or there's a mismatch of qualifications.
2. True, knowledge which is usually not taught in school or university.

It's the case that recruiters generally insist on degrees while being unqualified themselves. The university model is an outdated one.

I wouldn't say the university model is outdated when so many posts (especially overseas) seem to call for a Masters degree or higher.

This is a case of horses for courses. The skillset / qualities required to be a successful entrepreneur are different from those required to be a professional. Some of those qualities are not even teachable in a classroom. An entrepreneur without a degree does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that degrees are now unnecessary.

Most of those successful entrepreneurs will still have degreed worker drones in their companies, turning that entrepreneur's vision into a sellable product / service.

 

[cguy]

Not saying they don't, but that's not the definition of being qualified.

It kinda is: (M.W.)

Definition of qualified​

1a: fitted (as by training or experience) for a given purpose : COMPETENT

Just because I can do algebra doesn't mean I'm a bookkeeper. Ok, 2 of them probably have degrees that are even really relevant to their field, but then being qualified is as much about what you don't have as what you do.

All their degrees are relevant. A degree isn’t just some sort of certification that trains you to do specific tasks, it teaches generally applicable skills such as critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, abstraction, logic, research, foundational knowledge, etc., and the required formalisms. Some are geared towards certain areas more than others, but a degree doesn’t necessarily train you to do anything in particular any more than high school economics, biology, maths, trained you to be an economist, biologist or mathematician, yet without this basic knowledge and these tools, it would be very difficult to reason about the world in general.

Few points.
1. While that's probably true in general it's also the case that the higher up you go the less a degree is a requirement or there's a mismatch of qualifications.

Sometimes it is a requirement and sometimes it isn’t, but your odds of navigating through higher levels of management are better if you have a degree.

2. True, knowledge which is usually not taught in school or university.

A lot of the requisite knowledge is taught at university. Even without an obviously relevant university course, the ability to reason at the right level is critical.

It's the case that recruiters generally insist on degrees while being unqualified themselves. The university model is an outdated one.

It’s usually the companies themselves, not the recruiters, and for good reason. Most companies have policies that allow exceptions for very experienced candidates too.